In an episode near the middle of this novel, its narrator laments the tendency to "quietly collapse" exhibited by an American he meets on a train. Two of its chapters are devoted to a character study of a set of postmortem photographs of a central character, while another chapter examines that character's decision to maintain an extra-long eyebrow hair as a symbol of long life. In a notable passage, its narrator laments the flight of beauty, opining that "everything had 
In an episode near the middle of this novel, its narrator laments the tendency to "quietly collapse" exhibited by an American he meets on a train. Two of its chapters are devoted to a character study of a set of postmortem photographs of a central character, while another chapter examines that character's decision to maintain an extra-long eyebrow hair as a symbol of long life. In a notable passage, its narrator laments the flight of beauty, opining that "everything had become science and regulation". This so-called "chronicle-novel", narrated by (*) Uragami, sees its pivotal action compared to "smearing ink over a picture". That action is an unexpected and unartistic sealed move that gives Otake time to think. For 10 points, identify this novel that depicts the defeat of Honinbo Shusai in a "retirement game", a work of Yasunari Kawabata.
In an episode near the middle of this novel, its narrator laments the tendency to "quietly collapse" exhibited by an American he meets on a train.
The {Master} of {Go} [or {Meijin}]